Opinion Pieces

The Louisville Metro Council is considering an ordinance that would stop Louisville Metro police officers and city employees from enforcing federal civil immigration laws. The proposal bars metro employees from using government resources “to apprehend people whose only violation of the law is that they be undocumented.” This means that the police could no longer work with federal immigration officials to "serve local warrants or [report] traffic stops … for people wanted for immigration offenses." This moves Louisville in the direction of becoming a sanctuary city. The problem with this is that its unlawful. Federal authorities regulate immigration, not local governments. And when local governments take the law into their own hands, they end up undermining the rule of law and confuse the job of police officers who are charged with upholding the law in the first place.